Recent advances in the luminescent polymers containing lanthanide complexes

Lanthanide (Ln3+) complexes with organic ligands have recently gained extensive attention due to their unique optical features such as high color purity, narrow and intense emission bands and long excited state lifetimes, showing diverse applications in tunable lasers, optical amplifiers, biomedical diagnosis, high density information storage and so on. However, some inherent shortcomings, such as poor stability (photo-, thermal- and mechanical), low processability and the tendency to aggregate significantly, limit their full exploitation in practical applications. Incorporating of Ln3+ complexes into polymers matrices are effective means to improve their properties and broaden their applications. In recent decades, significant progress has been made in Ln3+ complexes-containing polymers, varying from structural evolution of ligand molecules and polymers to application expansion of luminescent functional polymers. This review will systematically summarize the key points in the synthesis methods (including both physical doping and chemical cross-linking) of Ln3+ complexes-containing polymers. The critical strategies to prepare self-healing luminescent polymers will be discussed in detail. We then review the emerging applications of Ln3+ complexes-containing polymers ranging from light-conversion films, organic light-emitting diodes, bio-imaging to temperature sensing applications. At the end of this review, we will provide an outlook on the opportunities and challenges of Ln3+ complexes-containing polymers.